Gegard Mousasi

By Michael Hatamoto

UFC light heavyweight fighter Gegard Mousasi took to Twitter to announce his desire to fight Vitor Belfort in a fight that could have major ramifications in the middleweight division.

@danawhite @ufc I hoop I can fight in december against Belfort… I think my fans would love that fight….

— Gegard Mousasi (@mousasi_mma) June 7, 2013

Mousasi hasn’t fought in the middleweight division since September 2008, when he captured the DREAM middleweight championship in a tournament final against Ronaldo Souza. After moving up to light heavyweight for the next five years, it is still clear that Mousasi could easily cut weight back down to the middleweight division.

If Mousasi is motivated and his recently surgically-repaired knee holds up, I think he has the boxing and kickboxing skills to beat Belfort, despite the Brazilian’s recent hot streak against Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold. If Mousasi is able to withstand the first round with Belfort without taking a lot of damage, I would be curious to see how the second and third rounds played out.

In the grand scheme of things, I believe it’d be better for the UFC to have Mousasi work his way towards a middleweight title shot, because I don’t think Belfort can beat either Silva or Weidman. There is still a lot of controversy regarding Belfort’s admitted TRT use – and his reported difficulty of fighting in Las Vegas – that has fans and MMA writers worried.

Previously, UFC President Dana White said Belfort could be next in line for the winner of a title fight between champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chris Weidman; if true, there isn’t a good reason for Belfort to take a fight and potentially lose.